Recipes and tips from a mid-western Mom, Sister, Aunt and Grandma mixed with stories of family life and food shared and handed down from generation to generation upon request! My recipes are indexed on, Very Good Recipes.

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5/3/12

Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil Highlight our Garden Planting

Garden time is always a fun time here. Brian and I love to mess with our tiny plot to see what all we can get going in such a small space. 12' x12' is about all the sun we have and it is practically in our front yard but we don't care. We just get out there and dig away!

My best friend Diane gave me heirloom tomatoes and basil she had started and I just got them in the ground this morning. Brian had already planted onion sets, cabbage, peppers, and beans over the weekend plus put in our first raised bed and a trellis. A week ago last Thursday I had thrown out some radish and lettuce seeds so it is filling up!!

Driving home from Bloomington on Monday was like heaven because the basil and tomato plants perfumed the car to the extent I was smiling from ear to ear. It was truly heavenly!!

I just watered my sets with calcium water made by soaking egg shells in water. It is terribly good for the tomatoes especially ...or so I have read. I will let you know how it all turns out.

There is sweet basil and Geno-vice basil. The tomato varieties are Pruden's Purple, German Johnson, Big Red, Cherokee Purple, Abe Lincoln, Black Krim, and Yellow Pear. IF ANYONE HAS EXPERIENCE OR KNOWLEDGE OF THESE I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Here are some snapshots of what is blooming here this morning as I walked to the mailbox and to the garden.

5 comments:

I am curious about the use of the eggshells to assist the growth of the tomato. I currently have two kinds of tomato of which I am growing. One is a patio tomato started by BonniePlants. I planted it about a month ago and have protected it from the cold weather. This weekend I spotted a tomato on it! It is very small but I am excited.

The other tomato plant I have is a big boy and it was started by a local gardener in my area. I actually planted it last night because I was not sure it could survive much longer in the small container it had been started in. I actually intended to do the eggshell trick, but in the rush to get it in a larger container I totally forgot. I was thinking about maybe replanting it this weekend and adding the eggshells, but I was not sure if it is worth the risk. I think I read somewhere that putting the eggshells in the hole before planting is beneficial. How did you soak the eggshells? Did you rinse them really well to get all residues off? How long did you soak the eggshells? I plan to work on this project this weekend since I have a larger gap of time.

I also have planted sweet basil which is growing quite well. However, I believe it is about time to harvest some of my leaves. They have not been looking quite as nice as they initially were so some local gardeners said I likely need to harvest the leaves so new leaves can grow. My sweet basil was a BonniePlant as well. I will probably harvest and dehydrate this weekend.

My garden is a learning project in process. It is the first garden I have actually planted myself (other than the landscaping at my house), but in all honesty it is so exciting. It is amazing how much things grow just overnight. So far I have not lost anything. I am enjoying it and having a reason to work in the sunshine has been great. By the way, my garden is a container garden growing on my small deck. I have planted several other things and have a few more seeds to plant. I am running out of deck space though. If this year is successful I may consider a regular garden. I really like the raised garden idea and have been seeing them around quite a bit.

Jerry Baker is a gardening "expert" and has published a lot of books on the subject. I used his information to do the egg shell process. He recommended washing the egg shells and allowing them to air dry. Next after drying you crush them. Then let them stand overnight in a gallon of water. He then recommends draining and pouring over the tomatoes for a tonic of the calcium rich water.

I wanted to add that I am going to try starting more basil this very day from cuttings. It is supposed to be quite easy. You take a 4" cutting and strip the leaves from the bottom 2" and put the bare bottoms in water to root. From what I have read in 2-4 weeks you have new plants to put in the dirt. This would be a way to be sure you always had more fresh basil through the season. Just thought you might be interested as you too appear to have been bitten by the playing in the dirt bug!!

Thanks! I am preparing my eggshells for soaking now and plan to apply this week. I have been over-watering a little bit. I am also trying the basil idea and am looking forward to seeing the result. My mom and a former co-worker would love to have a plant from me. The basil does truly smell good. I got a strong wiff of it today as I was doing a bit more gardening getting the plants I picked up last week planted as well as a few other chores. My garden is growing in more ways than one.

My little tomato is slowly getting bigger. I just can't wait to bite into it!

So happy when another finds the fun in playing in the dirt too!! Good luck with your tomatoes and basil. I am heading upstairs to add water to the 2 jars of basil starts on my dinning room sill right now. They look great!! Happy gardening.

(Do you find you just can't wait to go out and look to see any changes since last you looked.)

Funny you should mention that...I do look forward to checking on my plants when I get home from work and when I wake in the morning. I have been checking on them closer than I originally was, especially since that tomato appeared all of a sudden. I am always excited to see what is going to pop up. Glad to hear your basil is doing well. So far mine is doing pretty good. I keep checking for roots. My tomatoes seem to be doing good. The newer one seemed to have gone into a little shock but it is greening again now. The original seems to be thriving. I have reduced my watering to give them an opportunity to absorb what is in the soil. I think I was over watering in an attempt for all my plants not to dry out and I may have overdone it.